진행자: 임정요, Kevin Lee Selzer

1. Is she real? Artificial humans move to the fore

[1] If the names Miquela or Imma ring a bell, you have been keeping up with the growing demographic of digital humans. Miquela and Imma are Instagram influencers, respectively followed by 2.48 million and 200,000 users. They are computer-generated imageries, but have pretty realistic personal descriptions.

*ring a bell: 들어본 적이 있다, 낯익다
*demographic: 인구분포도
*influencer: (신조어) 영향력이 있는 사람

[2] With the coronavirus pandemic, noncontact has become a buzzword in business. Interest in digital humans is growing, Kim said, but this doesn’t mean CGI humans will ever eclipse real people.

“Making the digital human, commanding tasks and carrying out their maintenance is all humans’ doing,” Kim said, “All matters have two sides. If graphics replace humans at work, there will inevitably arise new jobs for humans to operate these digital characters,” said Kim Hyung-il, CEO of Sua Digital in an interview with The Korea Herald.

*noncontact: 언택트
*buzzword: 유행어
*~'s doing: 누구의 소행이다
*replace: 대체하다
*inevitable: 불가피하다
*operate: 운용하다

[3] The question remains: Why do humans create other human-looking things? Why should artificial intelligence take on the form of a biped, with an inviting smile and a helpful tone of voice?

“To ask if (digital humans) is unnatural would be an oxymoron. Because humans are not natural to begin with. We do things other animals don’t. We may feel ethical discomfort at humans playing god, but this is the innate characteristic of humans that is difficult to change,” Lee Taek-gwang, a professor of cultural studies at Kyung Hee University in Seoul.

*the question remains: 의문이 남다
*biped: 이족보행의
*inviting: 친절한
*oxymoron: 역설
*discomfort: 불편함

기사원문: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200708000946

2. Being a foreign student during COVID-19 pandemic

[1] COVID-19 was an unexpected twist that has profoundly changed how we live in South Korea. But for foreign students seeking to make most of their time here, the coronavirus is the ultimate unwelcome guest.

*twist: 뒤틀림, 반전 twists and turns; surprise twist; twist ending
*profound – deep; by a great measure
*unwelcome guest: 불청객 – guests, like fish, stink after a few days

[2] Vokhidjon Kakhramonov, an Uzbek student at Korea University, said one of the difficulties at the beginning was to buy a mask. Now, another difficulty is that international travel is almost impossible.

“I missed my family so much and wanted to go back to my country this summer. But I couldn’t find plane tickets,” he said. Being under self-quarantine for two weeks upon arrival at Uzbekistan and another two weeks upon his return to Korea is also a burden. “It means I lose one month.”

*almost impossible: 거의 불가능하다  nigh impossible – impractical
*burden: 무게, 부담 – heavy weight; cumbersome responsibility

[3] As Korea grapples with a continued influx of infections coming from overseas, the government made it mandatory for all international arrivals to self-quarantine for two weeks on April 1 and it is toughening its rules to dissuade unnecessary international travel.

*grapple: 고심하다 wrestle; contend; fight
*influx: 유입 inflow; rush (in); <> outflow, outpouring
*dissuade: 저지하다 <> persuade, encourage

기사원문: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200713000896